Shortly after the news that President Barack Obama’s “green jobs adviser” Van Jones had resigned over the weekend, Republicans were rejoicing and claiming the “scalp” of the man that Fox News host Glenn Beck had branded a “socialist” and an “ex-con.” For weeks, Beck had launched an extensive on-air campaign against Jones. And on Sunday, he was claiming victory, posting this statement: “The American people stood up and demanded answers. Instead of providing them, the administration had Jones resign under cover of darkness. ... Judging by the other radicals in the administration, I expect that questioning to continue for the foreseeable future.”

In a FoxNews.com commentary, Phil Kerpen, a policy director for Americans for Prosperity, a right wing political advocacy group, declared that Jones’ resignation was “one of the most significant things I’ve ever had the honor or being involved in.” (Kerpen’s organization was one of the main groups behind the Tax Day Tea Party protests from last April. It also created Patients United Now, an anti-health reform campaign.)

Meanwhile, Democrats and others who have supported Jones' policy agenda and personal ambition are crying foul, blaming the administration for not defending one of its own. "Jones was one of the only movement progressives in a policymaking position in the Obama White House," wrote progressive columnist David Sirota on the day of the announcement. "No more—and that's a damn shame."

“I think this is bad for democracy,” says James Rucker, co-founder, with Jones, of Color of Change, an online advocacy group that launched an effective advertiser boycott of Beck’s program in July. “Van is someone who’s been great at getting a spotlight on lower income communities in the context of greening America. But because he [was] associated with Color of Change, he’s a target. It's shameful.”

Jones’ resignation comes in the wake of a quick and dirty partisan battle. He had come under fire from conservatives, most notably Beck, for his political past, which included organizing for income equality, prisoners' rights and environmental justice. Last week, criticism against Jones took on added furor when news broke that he’d signed a 2004 petition speculating that high-level government officials were involved in planning the 9/11 attacks on the United States. For an administration focused on delicate negotiations on health care reform, defending Jones' controversial association was a bridge too far.

In his statement, Jones, 40, bowed out: "On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me," he said. "They are using lies and distortions to distract and divide." The statement framed his departure as deference to a cause larger than himself. "I came here to fight for others, not for myself. I cannot in good conscience ask my colleagues to expend precious time and energy defending or explaining my past."

When reached by telephone Sunday morning, Jones declined to comment.

The controversy highlights the pitfalls of being a fast-rising, outside-the-Beltway leader. As the head of the Ella Baker Center in Oakland and then environmental justice outfit Green For All, Jones was enormously successful in inserting the idea of "green collar jobs" into the public discourse. As Jones and allies such as the Apollo Alliance in California pushed the issue, grassroots activists, then policy wonks, then presidential candidates such as Hillary Clinton began to use the phrase—and by December 2007, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appropriated $125 million in government funds toward the creation of jobs that reduce emissions, cut energy costs and help the planet. Jones officially joined the liberal establishment in 2007 as a fellow at the Center for American Progress. Soon after, his best-selling book, The Green Collar Economy, was reviewed favorably by the likes of Pelosi, former Senate majority leader Tom Daschle and former Vice President Al Gore.